The personal and professional website of Douglas Van Bossuyt
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Driving back from Thane we stopped off at a small rock beach to look for salmon and check out some bald eagles. The name of the game with salmon is spawn and die. All of the fish we saw were dead. The bald eagles were lazily picking at some fish carcasses further out on the beach.
SPAWN AND DIE!
Eagles on the ground by the creek.
A juvenile bald eagle.
And with that we hopped on a plane and returned to Oregon. Yet another great adventure! I know I’ll be back to Alaska in the near future.
Tags: Alaska, Bald Eagles, Juneau, Salmon, Thane
Emily and I went on a couple of short hikes on plank trails on the north end of Douglas Island. One has to be careful when walking on plank trails. They get super slippery and dangerous when wet. And when is anything dry in southeast Alaska?
A cute little island that is accessible by foot when the tide is low. These 20 foot swings are incredible!
A pond/swamp thing in the forest.
Woods and water.
On an elevated section of the plank path.
Another small pond.
Looking awesome!
Tags: Alaska, Douglas Island, Emily S, Hiking, Juneau, Plank Trails
Emily learned how to ski and snowboard at the Eaglecrest Ski Area on Douglas Island. She taught for many years as well. We visited the ski area in the off season just to check the place out. They might not get much snow but the pow is supposed to be pretty epic.
Emily’s parents got married here when the resort first opened.
Striking a snowboarder pose.
Tags: Alaska, Douglas Island, Eaglecrest, Emily S, Juneau, Skiing, Snowboarding
While visiting the Treadwell Mine we ran into one of Emily’s relatives. He took us up to his cabin in the woods a few miles from the end of the road. To go to town and come home at the end of the day he has to hike. For where he lives though it looks totally worth the walk.
The trail straight up the mountain. It follows an old water pipeline used in the mines.
The view from the house. He has a driving range right off of his front lawn.
A little camera shy.
The cabin. Everything has to be helicoptered in because there is no road to the site.
An old ditch from the mines with a path along it to the neighbor’s place.
The neighbor’s bar.
The neighbor’s house.
The trail down the hill.
Part of the zip line complex.
Emily grew up just a few blocks away from the Treadwell mine complex. The mines of Douglas Island operated at full speed until a disastrous flooding and collapse all but shut down mining in 1917. Much of the equipment was moved across the channel to the mines around Juneau. However, a fair amount still remains. The cyanide and other contaminants also still remain at the site.
The gravel road/path into the complex.
Some big old hunk of steel.
Pilings sticking out of the sand. The sandy beach was created by mine tailings. It’s the only sand beach in this part of Alaska.
Looking straight up through a hole in a decaying building.
The Glory Hole. It goes way, way into the ground. Lots of gold was pulled out of this hole.
A mine shaft filled with water. Someone threw a bunch of scrap metal into it perhaps to keep people from falling too far into the watery depths.
The old hospital or administration building.
The blowout where the sea swept into the mine.
A big motor in the bushes.
The old gold storage facility.
A blown out safe. Nothing was left inside.
Lots of levers to pull!
Another set of pilings for another long-gone pier.
An area contaminated with cyanide. The signs warning people of the risks were taken down when a zip line was built for tourists directly over this contaminated site. I wonder if the cruise ship passengers realize exactly what they are suspended over. The air on the site smelled of cyanide and other nasty chemicals. While the ground might be green, it doesn’t mean it’s save.
A big pipe running through the woods.
Tags: Alaska, Douglas Island, Emily S, Glory Hole, Juneau, Treadwell Mine
For those who don’t know, Alaskan Brewing Company offers free samples of their beer at the brewery. Having a sample of each beer ends up equaling several pints. Just be sure to buy a t-shirt before you leave.
Tags: Alaska, Alaskan Brewing Company, Beer, Juneau
On our way back to town after our cabin adventure we stopped at the Shrine of St. Therese. Here are a few photos from around the shrine.
Tags: Alaska, Emily S, Juneau, Shrine of St. Therese
Emily and I rented a Forest Service cabin at Peterson Lake outside of Juneau. The hike in covers four miles of mostly mud and muskeg. The first two miles follows an old mine car roadbed complete with small rails and wooden ties. The last two miles consist of a plank board path elevated above the muskeg and water. The cabin at the lake was very cozy and even came equipped with a boat.
A totem pole on the road to the trail head.
The trail. It isn’t very muddy on this part but it got a lot worse.
Mud. Lots and lots of it.
A waterfall on the river that the trail followed.
Emily walking on the plank trail.
The old railroad next to the plank trail.
Another waterfall.
Peterson Lake.
Peterson Lake Cabin.
The boat that comes with the cabin.
People can also fly in on float planes and tie up at the docks.
Cooking on a sterno can. Well, actually we were boiling water in this photo but same idea.
Drying out firewood and socks.
The cabin can sleep around eight people.
Some mountains with glaciers visible in the distance.
Getting ready to go boating.
Safety first!
Stretching out in the evening.
Morning over the lake.
One more row before we left.
Tags: Alaska, Backpacking, Emily S, Glaciers, Juneau, Muskeg, Peterson Lake
Glaciers abound in the Juneau area of Alaska. They are all hanging on the mountains and coming down into the water, just waiting for the humans to drop their guard. When we least expect it the glaciers will attack! Here are a few photos of Mendenhall Glacier and some of the others who might soon wrest control of Alaska from the United States.
On the road leading to the Mendenhall Glacier.
A creek that runs into the lake created by the retreating glacier.
Mendenhall Glacier. It has retreated about a mile since Emily’s mom first came to Alaska.
The white streak on the right side of the image is a huge river which plunges down from the Juneau Ice Fields into the lake.
As seen from the visitor center.
A hanging glacier just waiting to attack.
Another hanging glacier. They’re all terrorist sleeper agents.
Mendenhall from Douglas Island.
Tags: Alaska, Emily S, Glaciers, Hanging Glaciers, Juneau, Juneau Ice Fields, Mendenhall Glacier
Juneau is visited by many cruise ships throughout the year. At any one time up to four ships can be found docked and moored in the channel. What many people probably don’t realize is how polluting the ships truly are. A pall of blue smoke hangs over downtown Juneau and drifts down the channel sent up from the exhaust stacks of the ships. Even at dock they idle their engines sending up clouds of oily haze. Here are a couple of photos of the boats and a few of the smoke they produce. And people wonder why the glaciers around Juneau are retreating!
A ship moored in the channel. They use the life boats to shuttle passengers back and forth to land.
Two ships at two different docks.
A small private yacht (say 100 feet…) docked in downtown Juneau.
See the blue haze above the ships? That’s smoke from their stacks.
More blue haze. This is looking from Douglas Island.
A ship heading down the channel after a stay at Juneau.
Blue smoke over downtown Juneau pushing up against Mount Juneau.
Emily with a boat in the background.
All the smoke rising from the ships at sunset.
Tags: Alaska, Cruise Ships, Douglas Island, Emily S, Juneau, Mount Juneau, Pollution
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